Liberation Maiden
Liberation Maiden (解放少女, Kaihō Shōjo) is a shoot 'em up video game for the Nintendo 3DS and iOS platforms. Initially included on the Guild01 compilation for Nintendo 3DS, the game is now sold separately on Nintendo's eShop and Apple's App Store marketplaces. The game was directed by Makoto Chida, written by Masahiro Yuki at Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Level-5, with prologue and epilogue sequences animated by Bones. Liberation Maiden is the culmination of creative director SUDA51's interest in developing for Nintendo 3DS, which dates back to before the release of the console.Suda51 wants to make 3DS game. Official Nintendo Magazine. May 19, 2010. The title shares stylistic traits with other material from Grasshopper's repertoire, particularly Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly. Plot 100 years into the future, the world is on the brink of complete conquer by an insurgent state known as the Dominion. In response Japan dissolves its parliamentary system, opting to elect a President with greater emergency powers than a Prime Minister in an effort to liberate countries who have fallen to the Dominion. Yokuichiro Ozora, an important figure within Japan's government, is designated as the First President of New Japan. The launch of an aerial base of operations for Japanese parliament is then fast-tracked and Battleship Nagata is born. Before the country can strike back against the Dominion, President Ozora is assassinated by a gunman while giving a public speech promoting rebellion. The Dominion promptly invades Japan, burrowing Conduit Spikes in major cities which syphon magnetic energy fields buried across the country. In spite of the Dominion's advances in technology powered by spiritual energy, their fleet is generally based on the ground. New Japan counters this by investing in the design of a flight-sustaining bipedal robot Liberator, nicknamed Kamui. Following the assassination of the First President of New Japan, his teenaged daughter Shoko Ozora is appointed as his successor in office. Ozora plans to eradicate the Dominion forces occupying Japan's land forever by orchestrating an assault on their key facilities. With the help of Kamui, Ozora first sets out for Tokyo. There she takes back the capital's airport and encounters Lesser and Greater Conduit Spikes for the first time. Ozora topples the Conduit Spikes with advice from First Secretary Kira, who teaches her that Greater Conduit Spikes are invulnerable to all but her Liberator's Sacrifice Drive. In Kagoshima, Ozora eliminates the Dominion's primary naval fleet and in Osaka, she destroys its weapon plants and surveillance stations. Kira then directs her to the mountains of Hokkaido, where she cuts off Dominion supply trains and encounters a virtually unknown strain of Greater Conduit Spike. While the Sacrifice Drive proves capable of crunching through the Conduit Spike, as it topples something even less precedented rises from the pipeline – a Guardian Spirit in the form of a phoenix, impaled by a number of Conduit Spikes. Guardian Spirits are believed by the Japanese to be the physical manifestation of the magnetic energy fields the Dominion has been working to harvest, and witnessing one in the flesh comes as a surprise to Ozora and the crew on Battleship Nagata. Injured and enraged, the Guardian Spirit attacks Japan as it flies south. Kira surmises that it is flying to Mt. Fuji, which has been experiencing volcanic activity after years of dormancy. A known central hub for the Energy Vein pipelines across Japan, Kira suggests Mt. Fuji is where the Guardian Spirit is seeking to take nest. The Guardian Spirit makes a last stand against Ozora, who treats the Conduit Spikes protruding from the beast as its weaknesses. Destroying these anomalies, the Guardian Spirit crumbles and dies. With the destruction of the Dominion's ground fleet and the raging Guardian Spirit, Ozora takes a moment to behold the sight of Japan, which she liberated in memory of her father. Celebrations aboard Battleship Nagata are cut short by the ambush of a Dominion starship – never before seen by the parliament of New Japan, who believed the Dominion could not take to the skies using their present resources. Ozora is summoned back to Battleship Nagata and a new conflict begins in the skies over Japan. Gameplay Piloting Kamui is accomplished on the Nintendo 3DS using the Control Pad and on iOS devices by guiding movement with the touchscreen. On both platforms, enemies are designated for attack when they are tapped on. Likewise, Kamui's alternative attacks are accomplished by tapping a weapon-switching icon, or by sliding horizontally across the screen to activate Kamui's blade power. Release Guild01 is the video game compilation in which Liberation Maiden appears, containing four complete games helmed by four distinct scenario writers. The compilation launched in Japan on May 31, 2012. In addition to SUDA51's Liberation Maiden, these are Yoshiyuki Hirai's Rental Bukiya de Omasse, Yoot Saito's Aero Porter and Yasumi Matsuno's Crimson Shroud. The compilation's publisher, Level-5, also handled development on Crimson Shroud, while Vivarium Inc. served as developer for Air Porter. On October 4, Liberation Maiden began to be sold separately on the European eShop, and the North American eShop received the title on October 25. On March 7, 2013, a high-definition edition of Liberation Maiden launched on the App Store for Apple's iOS family of devices. Guild01 was followed by the eShop compilation Guild02. Owners of any game featured on Guild01, including Liberation Maiden, can access an additional chapter of The Starship Damrey, one of the titles included on Guild02. Concept art Image:Tumblr_lt3tt6kJTC1qfni9go1_400.jpg| Shoko Ozora and Kamui. References Category:Liberation Maiden Category:Video games